CHALLENGES OF GREEN VOYAGE

Green Voyage is a Carbon Neutral journey from the southern-most point of India, Cape Comorin, Kanyakumari, to the crown of India, Kashmir. This is a journey by a group of women who will be covered in electric vehicles along the west coast of India, with stops in every major city along the way where activities will be conducted to raise green consciousness in the people. The Green Voyage will be associated with several partners, including NSS and NCC members, who will help conduct the activities.

The objective of the Green Voyage is to make people aware of nature conservation and environmental protection and awaken their green consciousness. Observing the current climate change effects like weather pattern changes, rising sea levels, flash floods, increasing global temperatures, droughts, etc., it is high time that we direct our efforts to tackle these problems. One of the best approaches is to bring about a behavioural change in the collective population to strive towards an eco-friendly future. This is where the Green Voyage comes in and shows that shifting to a new, sustainable approach is possible. Traversing the west coast of India in electric vehicles, maintaining a net-zero state by having accommodation in eco-stays, wearing sustainably acquired clothing, reducing food wastes, conducting activities along the way like green street plays, flash mobs, plantations, and offsetting the minimal amounts of emissions through a plantation drive. All these measures would result in people observing the We Grow Forest Foundation as a carbonneutral organisation and completing a carbon-neutral journey.

Green Voyage, a tremendous project to raise green consciousness, comes with its challenges. The challenges that the women will face during the Green Voyage are as follows:

1. Range Anxiety: Since the Green Voyage is covering more than 4000 kilometres in electric vehicles, the range of the electric vehicles is a challenge. Tata Nexon EV, the frontrunner in the list of vehicles being used for Green Voyage, has an average range of 350 kilometres. In order to cover the massive distance of 4000 kilometres, the route map has been prepared while keeping the EV Charging points in mind. All the eco-stays are chosen, which have a maximum number of EV Charging points in close proximity so that charging the electric vehicles can be facilitated while the activities to raise green-conscious are being conducted. Also, We Grow Forest Foundation has associated with EVRE, which will build DC Fast Charging stations along the route for experiencing a smooth journey. The newly built charging stations will be permanent and available for everyone.
2. Carbon emissions: It is a herculean task to be carbon neutral. Annually, an average person produces 2 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide. About 8 to 12 women will travel from Kanyakumari to Kashmir in the Green Voyage, which is supposed to last around 2 weeks. To reduce the carbon footprint to zero, the travellers will lodge in LEED Certified eco-stays and home-stays, wear sustainably procured clothing and partake in a zero food waste policy. All these measures will reduce the carbon footprint to almost zero. Still, since it is a universal rule that no process is perfect, there will be minimal emissions which can be offset by conducting plantation drives during and after the Green Voyage.

3. Fatigue: Driving 4000+ kilometres in 14 days is no easy task, especially when maintaining a net-zero approach. Moving through various terrains, climates, and places will induce an immense mental and physical fatigue in the travellers. To counter the fatigue, all the travellers will be well-versed in driving electric vehicles and will take turns driving so that no member faces the fatigue due to driving and endangers the whole journey. Other measures like practising yoga, constant entertainment, resting at periodic times, etc., will further reduce the mental and physical fatigue of the travellers. To ensure that the physical well-being and health are taken care of, proper medications and equipment will be taken along during the Green Voyage.

4. Awareness: The whole purpose of Green Voyage is to showcase that Sustainable living, maintaining carbon neutrality and being eco-friendly are possible and of utmost importance in this day and age. Making the population aware of sustainability through Green Voyage is crucial to bringing about behavioural change. The various activities can bring about the awareness towards developing a green consciousness during Green Voyage.

The activities include green street plays, which will depict the plight of nature and the atrocities of humans on the environment through drama; flash mobs, which will use dance as an art form to bring about awareness about the importance of nature conservation and protection of biodiversity; wall paintings, which will educate the masses through visual means on how to achieve carbon neutrality and protect the significant portion of earth’s biodiversity from extinction; plantation drives and seed-ball donations, which is the most practical activity which will encourage people to come forward and take initiatives towards returning the lost greenery to our mother earth.

Furthermore, the whole journey of the Green Voyage will be documented, broadcasted on news channels, social media websites, blogs, articles, etc. so that the reach is improved tremendously and a maximum number of people are made aware of the Green Voyage and get inspired to start taking actions which will benefit the environment.

5. Finances: Such a massive project, the Green Voyage, would not be possible without some capital investment. From acquiring electric vehicles, and electronic gadgets to clothing, accommodation, etc., all would require significant funding. This can be resolved through the associations of Green Voyage with multiple partners who will help from all fronts to make the Green Voyage successful as We Grow Forest Foundation has always been inclined with organisations whose values meet ours. As our partners have a knack for being sustainable and eco-friendly, they will help in the procurement of all the requirements to make Green Voyage a success.

In return, all our partners will receive maximum exposure through the social media influencers, news channels, and others who cover Green Voyage because the electric vehicles, our websites and the clothing will feature the branding of our partners and associates. We also look for organisations which have a Corporate and Social policy to become our sustainable partners and associate with us in the Green Voyage.

A project like Green Voyage comes with immense challenges in all fields, but with determination, nothing is impossible. Overcoming numerous challenges will only strengthen our resolve and make us more focused on completing the Green Voyage.

To know more about We Grow Forest Foundation please visit our website https://wegrowforest.org/ or contact us at on 9778411911 or email at us plant@wegrowforest.org